Governor of Yan Province

"Does he... have Golden Meridian Lines on his body?" Yao Yin asked.

The light in Hidden Twenty-Four's eyes dimmed, and he said coldly, "I'm afraid so. Otherwise, how could he, with his Eight Springs cultivation, defeat the Nine Springs Pure Immortal Body with its Hundred Meridian Lines All Silver Body?"

Yao Yin said, "But I've heard that being able to forge one or two Golden Meridian Lines is an extraordinary achievement. He has one, two... there are simply countless..."

Li Weiyi suddenly burst into laughter. "I understand! We were attracted by that purple Cordyceps Sinensis, which led us astray into this Ash Region. But why could we see it in the spider cave? If I'm not mistaken, we need it to get back."

"It is the root and source of everything!"

Under the illumination of the Golden Meridian Lines on his body, the illusions of the Ash Region could not deceive Li Weiyi's Heavenly Eye.

He found the exact location of the Purple Cistanche, not in front of him, but behind him, beside a sand dune far away. It was probably several miles away, but he could see the purple glow it emitted from afar.

Like a purple magic lamp, illuminating the depths of darkness.

"Go, stay close behind me, don't fall behind, and don't be influenced by other thoughts or illusions."

Li Weiyi maintained the Golden Meridian Lines and golden Heavenly Eye on his body, glanced at Hidden Twenty-Four and Yao Yin, his expression froze, and immediately withdrew his gaze, not daring to look a second time.

With one hand forming a hand seal and the other holding the Yellow Dragon Sword, he walked at the front, quickly heading towards the sand dune where the Cordyceps Sinensis deserticola was located.

After the three had walked several hundred meters, a sudden gust of wind picked up.

"Rustle!"

The wind whipped up the black sand, sending Mars flying from beneath, radiating intense heat like an unburnt fire. With each gust of wind, the ash-like sand burst into flames.

It's not just in one place, but in large swaths.

Yao Yin said nervously, "I remember! Grandpa once said that in the Ash Region, ash is just the surface; the most terrifying thing is the ashes."

"What 'ash'?"

Li Weiyi didn't dare to turn around.

The chanting technique taught by the Spirit Tablet Master is too misleading; it's difficult to control. Other Great Mind Master's spiritual eyes aren't this malevolent; how could they possibly achieve such precise control over a veil?

Yao Yin stopped abruptly, pointing in horror at a burning sand dune ahead, her voice trembling as she said, "Ember Spirit... a humanoid Ember Spirit..."

Li Weiyi had already seen it; six humanoid figures had appeared on the sand dunes a mile away.

They varied in height, some as tall as three or four meters, others as short as children. Their bodies, like burning ashes, shone brightly in the wind, constantly scattering Mars.

It's so bizarre; they don't seem like living beings at all.

"They're here... Run!"

Li Weiyi gasped and immediately Clear Void Cicada Evasion Step to rush towards the location of the Cordyceps Sinensis at top speed.

Behind him, Hidden Twenty-Four grabbed Yao Yin and unleashed a speed only a martial artist at the Five Seas Realm could achieve, leaping several feet in one step.

The six Ember Spirit moved with incredible speed, and as they charged forward, Mars filled the sky like a rain of fire under the night sky. They let out roars that were not of human origin, and the entire Ash Region was filled with sand and howling winds.

Hidden Twenty-Four was filled with deep regret. She shouldn't have agreed to let Li Weiyi bring Yao Yin here. Those six Ember Spirit were far beyond her current cultivation level to contend with. If she encountered them, how would she possibly fight?

"Clang clang!"

A deep, muffled bell rang out.

A giant camel, three or four meters tall, appeared out of thin air on the ground, half-real and half-illusory, its head held high and its fur glossy.

Li Weiyi sat on it, shirtless, and stretched out a hand to her.

Hidden Twenty-Four reached out and, using the momentum, carried Yao Yin onto the camel's back. She naturally had questions, but now was definitely not the time to satisfy her curiosity.

Escaping this place is the most urgent task.

A whooshing sound filled my ears; the camel's speed was even faster than some strange beasts.

It should only take a few breaths to reach the sand dune where the Cordyceps Sinensis is located.

"Aww!"

The largest of the Ember Spirit let out a long roar and spat out a long dragon of Mars that swirled in the air, quickly catching up with the camel ahead.

Hidden Twenty-Four turned around and stood up, mobilizing the magical energy within his body and continuously pouring it into a mirror-shaped magical artifact.

A bright beam of light shot out from the mirror and collided with the fire dragon.

"Boom!"

The fire dragon exploded, transforming into a dazzling yet dangerous rain of fire.

Li Weiyi unleashed the Ghost Flag, releasing Nether Mist to block all the falling fire rain.

As Li Weiyi got closer to the Cistanche Cordyceps Sinensis, his eyelids twitched. He then realized that what lay ahead was a dry, ancient riverbed, more than a hundred meters wide, with a drop of seven or eight meters between the riverbank and the riverbed.

The Cordyceps Sinensis grew on a large mud boat stranded on a riverbed, its roots anchored on the head of a skeleton.

The camel stopped on the shore, Li Weiyi dared not go any further.

The scene before him was too eerie; something just didn't seem right. He felt he might have been deliberately lured here, set up in the spider's lair.

Hidden Twenty-Four's eyes narrowed. "A dried-up river in the Ash Region, that mud-brick boat... nothing looks right. Are you sure we want to go there?"

Li Weiyi frowned and glanced back.

The six Ember Spirit roared incessantly as they quickly caught up.

"I... I'll give it a try. Grandpa said I'm destined to have some kind of connection with the Ash Region..."

Yao Yin suddenly spoke.

She stood up on the camel's back, facing backward, and then activated her special bloodline. A chill that made Li Weiyi and Hidden Twenty-Four's skin ache was released from her body.

"Slap! Slap!"

The sound of ice cracking echoed across Yao Yin's fair, jade-like skin, spreading upwards from her fingertips and feet, past her slender neck, and finally across her flawless face.

The crack ended at her pair of lapis lazuli-like eyes.

"Whoosh--"

A blue light shone from her eyes, illuminating the darkness, and a loud cry faintly rang out as a chilling aura surged toward the six Ember Spirit.

The six Ember Spirit, sensing the aura of their nemesis, stopped abruptly and then slowly retreated.

She held on for only a moment before blood streamed from Yao Yin's eyes. She slumped back onto the camel's back and collapsed into Hidden Twenty-Four's arms.

Li Weiyi had clearly sensed an extraordinary demonic Yao Qi emanating from her just now, and was somewhat surprised, looking at Hidden Twenty-Four.

"Don't look at me! I only found out today that she had such a trick up her sleeve." Hidden Twenty-Four stroked the ice cracks on Yao Yin's body. Seeing that her eyes were closed and she was barely breathing, he felt extremely distressed.

Li Weiyi said, "You don't even know this? Aren't you her sister?"

"Cousin!"

Hidden Twenty-Four corrected, his gaze then falling on the large mud boat stranded on the riverbed. "Her condition is very bad; she might not make it. Last time in the Spider Cave, her Ice Soul Cold Qi erupted, and it was you who fed her a mouthful of Cordyceps Sinensis that saved her. I think we might not have any other choice..."

"No need to say anything, I understand. Let's go!"

Li Weiyi is not a heartless person.

Moreover, to leave this Ash Region, one must at least investigate that large mud ship.

The camel leaped up and jumped onto the dry riverbed.

The riverbed was full of pebbles, with only a thin layer of black sand, finally giving me a sense of security and groundedness.

The large mud boat, about thirty meters long, is now just a rough outline of its hull, appearing extremely rudimentary. Perhaps it has been stranded here for too long, as its complex structure has decomposed into mud.

Once ashore, Li Weiyi put the camel into the Evil Camel Bell. Looking back, he saw the six Ember Spirit standing on the opposite riverbank, eyeing him menacingly, yet hesitant to enter the riverbed.

"I should have known better than to be greedy. This world is much stranger and more dangerous than I imagined."

Li Weiyi sighed and looked at Hidden Twenty-Four, who was holding Yao Yin: "You wait downstairs, I'll go investigate first."

"What's the use? We can't escape; we'll all die anyway."

Hidden Twenty-Four lightly touched the ground with his toes, leaped into the air, and landed on the large yellow mud boat first.

Placing Yao Yin on the ground, she carefully walked towards the skeleton at the bow of the ship, holding the mirror-shaped magic artifact in her hand. Having managed to stand out and become a hermit, Hidden Twenty-Four was naturally quite bold, but at this moment, her back grew colder and colder, and her head and feet were icy.

Because the purple official robe on the skeleton that had been sitting there for who knows how many years was spotless, as if it had just been put on a new garment.

Bathed in the purple glow of the Cordyceps Sinensis deserticola above, the official robe shimmered, and the cloud and dragon pattern on the insignia on his chest was lifelike, the dragon's form vigorous, soaring through the clouds.

Inside the official's robe, only a skeleton remained, its age unknown.

Li Weiyi leaped onto the ship and looked towards the bow, where he saw Hidden Twenty-Four searching through the skeletons with complete disregard for taboos. He couldn't help but admire him immensely.

"What were the findings?"

Only after confirming there was no danger did Li Weiyi walk over.

Hidden Twenty-Four pulled a golden imperial edict from the robes of the skeleton official. Opening it, French characters appeared within. After carefully reading it, she said, "Indeed, he is a governor, matching the pattern on the official robes... This is his imperial edict of appointment... Governor of Yan Province..."

"Yanzhou was one of the nine provinces ruled by the Jiu Li Tribe a thousand years ago, and it has long been swallowed up by the Netherworld of the Departed. Could it be that he has been dead for a thousand years? But why would he come here by boat and die here?"

Li Weiyi gazed at the winding and wide riverbed. "Could it be that this ancient river leads underground to Yanzhou?"

"That's possible."

Hidden Twenty-Four found crucial information on the imperial edict. "It is indeed a person from a thousand years ago. The investiture was signed by Zen Sea Observing Mist, and it bears the imperial seal."

The four characters "Zen Sea Observing Mist" greatly moved Li Weiyi, who quickly stepped forward and said, "Let me see."

After handing the imperial edict to Li Weiyi, Hidden Twenty-Four continued searching. Below the skeleton's right hand, she discovered a square Treasure Box. Immediately, her face lit up with excitement. "This... this couldn't be the legendary Provincial Governor's Seal, could it?"

"Why are you so excited? You're not going to use it to take office, are you?" Li Weiyi closed the imperial edict and chuckled.

Since there was no danger, I felt much better.

Hidden Twenty-Four said, "You really don't understand anything! The two most important treasures that enable a governor to suppress a state are his official robe and his seal, both of which are incomparably precious magical artifacts."

"The official robe represents defense and speed. Look at the cloud dragon on the insignia; legend has it that a dragon soul is truly sealed inside, and it was the governor's mount. You should know that Zen Sea Observing Mist once slew a dragon, splitting its soul into three hundred pieces, which were then refined into three hundred sets of Provincial Governor's Official Robe."

"The Provincial Governor's Seal signifies offensive power, capable of shaking mountains and moving peaks."

"These three hundred sets of battle armor made the rule of the Lingxiao Palace as solid as a rock a thousand years ago, suppressing all those demon kings and Myriad Gate Families into hiding. Unlike the current governors, they are like clay figures, and no one takes them seriously."

Li Weiyi immediately stopped underestimating him and stepped forward, saying with utmost seriousness, "Before entering the Spider Cave, you said that everything inside would belong to me."

"I only said that the Cordyceps Sinensis is yours, but I don't want a single penny of the precious medicine."

Hidden Twenty-Four opened the Treasure Box containing the official seal, took out the seal, and immediately his joy vanished. He sighed, "It's yours then, but the Silver Coin I owe you is now settled!"

"Good!"

Li Weiyi knew this was a huge profit, so he readily agreed.

Having succeeded in his treacherous scheme, Hidden Twenty-Four laughed and said, "I forgot to tell you, the Provincial Governor's Official Robe and seal on his body have fallen into disuse."

"You must understand that before each governor takes office, Zen Sea Observing Mist must personally activate the two treasures in order to grant them battle power. Once the term ends, the two treasures automatically fall into dormancy and must be returned to the Imperial Court."

"A thousand years ago, the reason why the Lingxiao Shengjing was engulfed in chaos and almost all Three Hundred Prefectures fell was largely due to the disappearance of the Zen Sea Observing Mist. The governors' terms of office ended one after another, and their official robes and seals lost their power."

"If the governors still possessed the power of their official robes and seals, they should have no problem protecting one or two hundred states. Instead, they are left with only Twenty-Eight Prefectures."

"No taking it back! Anyway, my debt of several hundred million copper coins is wiped clean!"

A thousand thoughts raced through Li Weiyi's mind. He thought of many things, and finally nodded, his gaze fixed on the Cordyceps Sinensis growing atop the skeleton. He wanted to know why it could project itself into the spider's cave.

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